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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27156259">Cover My Heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckyAndDanno/pseuds/BuckyAndDanno'>BuckyAndDanno</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1 (TV), Chicago Fire, Chicago PD (TV), NCIS: Los Angeles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Evan Buckley-Severide, Evan Is Part of CPD/Intelligence, Evan and Jay are partners, Evan is Undercover, Hurt Evan "Buck" Buckley, M/M, Sad Evan "Buck" Buckley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:23:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,756</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27156259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckyAndDanno/pseuds/BuckyAndDanno</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Lawsuit. Evan Buckley never had divulged much of his past to the 118. Isolated and alone, he heads back to Chicago; to the name he abandoned, family he left, and partner who never once gave up on him. Returning to the CPD is like riding a bike, allowing him to put the ghosts of LA to rest. Then a joint case with NCIS: LA brings him back in touch with those who once gave up on him, and they witness a side of Evan Buckley that they never knew existed.</p><p>Or,</p><p>Undercover Buck and Jay in LA. The 118 think Buck has gone ‘dark side’. Secrets revealed. Tensions running high. Emotions running higher.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Buck and District 21, Buck and Firehouse 118, Buck and Firehouse 51, Evan "Buck" Buckley &amp; Hank Voight, Evan "Buck" Buckley &amp; Jay Halstead, Evan "Buck" Buckley &amp; Kelly Severide</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>422</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This has pretty much stemmed from my binge watching PD, my love of Buck as a Severide, and also my love of NCIS. Also after writing The Sound of Silence, I just loved the idea of Buck being part of Intelligence. Enjoy!</p><p>Disclaimer: I don't own 9-1-1, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, or NCIS: LA.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The streets of LA are cold and damp in the midst of a February freeze. Breath hangs like mist in the air, and weather stations warn of snow and ice in the coming days. It’s an unusual winter, and the citizens of LA are displaced by its appearance.</p><p>It’s a time in which the 911 dispatch centre is over-run with calls, but for the first time in three years, Evan Buckley is unconcerned with the wail of sirens that seem to blanket the city.</p><p>For the first time in three years, they’re not his problem.</p><p>Reacclimatised to the harsher winters of more northern Chicago, Buck is dressed in thick denim jeans, sturdy boots and a thick long-sleeved top covered with a leather jacket. Matched by his slightly shorter partner, the two familiarise themselves with the city streets on route to their destination.</p><p>Striking blue eyes scan the area with practiced ease, even technically off duty. One of Chicago’s finest, Jay Halstead has been through a lot, and knows more than most how dangerous it can be to let one’s guard down for even a second. Even as the street opens up to an expansive terracotta building, even as Buck raps quickly on a side door and they’re ushered inside, he still keeps his gaze sharp and focused.</p><p>Only the light squeeze on his lower arm from his partner works to relax him but a fraction as a short, mousy woman approaches the pair.</p><p>“You must be Detectives Halstead and Severide.” She says curtly, watching them, hawk-like. “I am Senior Agent Hetty Lange. You’ll be working with my team.”</p><p>Buck, ever the intermediary, politely offers his hand. “A pleasure.”</p><p>“Indeed.” She eyes his hand much like the rest of them, then turns on a heel and gestures for them to follow.</p><p>“Senior Agents Callen and Hanna. Agents Blye and Deeks.” She introduces the four people huddled around a set of desks, computers and a large whiteboard. “Detectives Halstead and Severide.”</p><p>As Hetty makes her disappearance as quickly as she’d appeared, the six make their own quick introductions.</p><p>“Call me Evan.” Buck tells them. “Or Severide, either will do. Former SEAL, firefighter, and four years Intelligence.”</p><p>It seems strange to surmise his past ten years in a single sentence – a machine more than the sum of his parts – and yet he’s thankful not to linger on it too much; to dredge up the reasons he no longer called this city home.</p><p>Pleasantries done and steaming cups in hand, they’re quick to delve into the case, sharing information collated between the two targeted cities, and their insights into the investigation. Part way through a heated discussion of the potential offender profiles, instigated by Blye, Evan’s phone buzzes in his pocket, and he excuses himself momentarily.</p><p>“Severide.” He answers.</p><p>“Evan,” comes the gruff greeting of his pseudo father figure and boss, Hank Voight. The once dirty cop had a penchant for taking in strays, and Evan had been no different, especially in his early days in Chicago when he and his brother had failed to see eye to eye. “You two make it there okay?”</p><p>“All set, Sarge.” Evan responds. “The NCIS team and ourselves are just sharing case data and discussing options. We’re likely to go the undercover route, but we want to cover all our bases.”</p><p>“Okay. You know you do what you gotta do to take this guy down.” Hank replies, voice hard and unwavering. “We just had another body dumped down riverside, so I want this guy away yesterday, got it?”</p><p>“We got is Sarge.” Evan nods, fist unintentionally clenching around his phone at the thought of another innocent life lost.</p><p>“Stay safe, kid.”</p><p>Evan nods, knowing the words aren’t solely about the case at hand. “Always.”</p><p>He makes it back to the others in time to hear Hanna say “so you and your partner are okay going in?” to Jay, and he can’t help but smirk in response.</p><p>“You’re looking at the best undercover officers in Chicago, so yeah, we’re good.”</p><p>Jay claps him on the shoulder with a matching grin. “You heard him.”</p><p> </p><p>They arrange for the op to start at dawn the next day, leaving Buck and Jay with the evening free. In any other circumstance, they may have used the time for leisure or for further work, but Evan has no desire to step too far back into the life of LA, and Jay has his partner’s back no matter what.</p><p>Still, under the glow of the streetlamps filtering through the thin, moth eaten curtains of their hotel room, Buck finds himself restless, plagued with memories like nightmares and nightmares like memories. Unblinking red eyes stare at the ceiling, and then he slips quietly out the door.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>6 months ago</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Walking into the station, back straight and head held high, letter in hand, Buck knows he’s doing the right thing. As much as his pride doesn’t want to take the hit, he knows if he apologises for straying his temper, accepts the desk duty, works hard and proves himself, then he’ll be back where he belongs in no time.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He just needs a little patience is all. Never his strong suit but… first time for everything, right?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Except, he barely even steps a foot on the rung of the ladder before voices have him freezing where he stands.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“- hasn’t left the apartment – “</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s life, right? Suck it up and move on.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What does Buck have?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>In an instant, his heart shatters. The letter tears and crumples beneath clenched fists, and in one small moment he knows… he knows he’s fighting this alone.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>He doesn’t break completely until Bobby admits his part in keeping Buck away – until he’s sure they’re doing everything to replace him. Until he knows, with absolute certainty, that they don’t care about him as much as he cares about them.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So he sues.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And he knows it’s the stupidest idea as soon as he puts it in motion – as soon as he hands the notice to Bobby – but its all he has.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And when cold, hate filled expressions stare right through him from the elevator at the lawyer’s office, he knows he’s lost them regardless of the outcome.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He knows, with finality, that he never stood a chance.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>As soon as that firetruck crushed his leg, he was gone and done and out.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>As soon as the embolism knocked him down once again, he was alone and scared and left in the dust.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>As soon as the tsunami hit, LA became colder and bleaker.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>As soon as the elevator doors slide shut, he knows he no longer has a home here.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So he does what Evan Buckley (Or Severide, depending on who you asked) does best.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He runs, all the way back to Chicago, where it all began.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And there, staring up at the grey expanse of CPD district 21, faced suddenly with the father figure he’d all but pushed away, he breaks down.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And there, held in the strong, unwavering embrace of the man who refused to let him go even when he ruined it all, he lets it all out.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Then, faced with the teary blue eyes of the partner who never gave up on him, who called every day without question or preamble, and pulled into those arms also, he realises that he is still loved.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He is not alone.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And there, Evan Buckley-Severide begins to heal.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>His evenings without his son are few and far between (not that he would have it any other way) and yet when those evenings do arise, Eddie Diaz finds himself trailing an old, familiar route through LA City Park.</p><p>It was a route once taken with a friend, and every moment of his journey reminds him of the man he once loved; the man he pushed away until he lost him completely.</p><p>Every moment reminds him of all he regrets.</p><p>That evening however, with the moon hanging low in the sky, Eddie glimpses a figure all too familiar and wonders briefly if he’s dreaming. His mouth moves, forming long unspoken syllables, and then – between one second and the next – the figure is gone; taken into the night, as if he never existed at all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for all the love guys! I'm so glad you're intrigued!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eddie barely sleeps, and the next morning when he walks into the station, he’s pale and exhausted. Black rings circle his eyes, posture slouches as he slides onto one of the couches, cup of coffee in hand.</p>
<p>Hen is the first to spot him, brows raised. “Looks like you had a rough night?”</p>
<p>Eddie barely looks up at her. “You could say that.”</p>
<p>“I thought Chris was at your Abuela’s?”</p>
<p>“He was.” Eddie stands, scrubbing a hand over his face and then moving for more coffee. “You want some?”</p>
<p>Hen watches him for a long moment. “I think you need it more than I do.” She waits another moment until he’s sat back down, then sits down beside him. “You want to talk about it?”</p>
<p>He turns to her, red eyes bloodshot and sad. “I thought I saw Buck.”</p>
<p>“Oh.” Hen’s expression saddens. “Oh, honey, you know as well as I do that he’s gone.”</p>
<p>“I know.” Eddie scrubs at his eyes. “I know but… he could have come back. He could have…”</p>
<p>“And what?” Hen says softly, taking his hand in her own. “We messed up, Eddie. We messed up bad. Even if he was here, do you really think he’d forgive us?”</p>
<p>“Wouldn’t it be worth trying?” Eddie responds, the faintest glimmer of hope in his eyes. “You know how much Christopher still asks about him?”</p>
<p>“Eddie, it’s been six months.”</p>
<p>“I know, but… what if he is here? What if we can get him back?”</p>
<p>Hen blinks, silent for a long moment, and then. “How would we even find him?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The dawn heralds a new day, and with it the first day of their operation.</p>
<p>Jay and Evan start off back at the NCIS compound, going over the case with the agents.</p>
<p>“The latest victim was also a blackmailed smuggler for the cartel. Info from their phone records indicate their family was at risk if they didn’t co-operate.” Jay says. “Our Sergeant confirms they have intel on the Chicago drop off and are setting up a sting on their end.”</p>
<p>“As for us,” Hanna says, “we need to know where it starts. We’ve narrowed down to several locations where the vipers are known to frequent. Deals have never been caught, but there’s a first time for everything.”</p>
<p>“This is bigger than one deal though.” Kensi adds.</p>
<p>Deeks nods in agreement. “You’re gonna need to go higher up the chain if we want to dismantle them completely.”</p>
<p>“We’ve been on these guys for five years.” Callen says, eyes burning with fury. “LAPD have made small time arrests but never anything concrete. We end this.”</p>
<p>“Over twenty murders linked but never charged.” Hanna adds, eyeing Jay and Evan. “You sure you want to do this?”</p>
<p>“They don’t know us here.” Jay says. “Fresh faces are gonna be key.”</p>
<p>“There is one thing though.” Evan says with a sigh. “I was here for a good two years before rejoining CPD. I’m certain I haven’t crossed paths with these guys, which is why Sarge was happy for me to come, but if my old team see me… that could be an issue.”</p>
<p>“You got a solution?” Callen raises a brow.</p>
<p>“Deep cover. No wires. Full surveillance from a separate team.” Evan responds with a determined nod. “Jay’ll use a cover, but I’ll still with Buckley – how I was known here. Anyone sees me, I make sure they believe I’m rogue.”</p>
<p>“You willin’ to risk that?”</p>
<p>Evan smirks, thought its tinged with sadness and ghosts of the past. “I’m not riskin’ a thing.”</p>
<p>Hanna stares at him for a long moment, then nods. “You know where you wanna start?”</p>
<p>“One of my CI’s gave me a good tip, yeah.” Evan responds.</p>
<p>“Then let’s get to it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Club 81 is cold and dark beyond the neon strobe lights, excess glitter and body heat. Two lithe figures slip through the crowds with ease, three piece suits standing out against the crop tops and leather pants of the partiers.</p>
<p>One blonde, one brunette, their eyes connect for a brief moment before the blonde glides ahead, briefcase swinging from one hand.</p>
<p>He glides towards a roped off area, smile dripping with charm as two burly men press close around him.</p>
<p>“Relax, fellas.” He grins. “I’m here to see Cupo.”</p>
<p>“Name?”</p>
<p>The grin widens. “Buckley, but he’s more likely heard of my boss, Vincent Arlo.”</p>
<p>The two bodyguards exchange a glance, one cracking meaty knuckles, before a voice rings out behind them. “Now, now, boys. No need to ruin a party.”</p>
<p>The man who approaches is tall, chiselled, defined. Shortly cropped black hair and dark hazel eyes make him look more like a model than a master criminal. “You’re looking for me?”</p>
<p>“Cupo.” Evan lets himself relax a fraction, playing his character’s slight reverence in his tone. “A pleasure.”</p>
<p>Cupo eyes the case in his hands. “I’m sure the pleasure is more mine.”</p>
<p>“I’m here with my boss, Vincent Arlo. Cachetti said you’d be someone we’d enjoy working with.”</p>
<p>“Cachetti’s in Chicago.” Cupo’s brow rises.</p>
<p>Evan just grins. “Business trip.” He takes a step back, waving Jay over. “Vincent, I believe Mr Cupo may be inclined to hear our offer.”</p>
<p>“That is good news.” Jay’s voice is low and soft, expression blank, borderline disinterested. “At least from what our friend said.”</p>
<p>“Hard to impress, hm?” Cupo smirks. “A man of my own making. Come gentlemen, take a seat.” He leads them through the velvet roping to a secluded table lined with drinks. “Do help yourselves.”</p>
<p>He watches as neither make a move, and laughs. “I’m liking this already. So,” he slides back against the plush furnishings, arms out along the top. “What do you have for me?”</p>
<p>“Well…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Athena Grant hates days like these. Working the odd patrol shift was fine, but attending to noise complaints at a well known drug bar was not her idea of a good Friday night.</p>
<p>Squad car door slamming shut, she and her partner cautiously approach the red bricked building of Club 81.</p>
<p>The music can be heard from outside, loud and booming and ringing both their ear drums before they’re even at the doorway.</p>
<p>Athena rolls her eyes, moving inside. Despite its name, the place wasn’t legal, even if the city let it slide most of the time. Between legal cases not being quite strong enough and several CI’s on the books, it was deemed an acceptable risk, or something like.</p>
<p>They’re quick to start ushering people out, even when the ‘manager’ starts to complain.</p>
<p>Not one to care much for the darker underbelly or LA, Athena signals over to the cordoned off back area of the club.</p>
<p>Two burly men partially obscure three others sat around a table, but then one moves, and Athena stops dead.</p>
<p>“Buck…”</p>
<p>Her first thought is that he’s back, and happiness rushes through her, but it’s quickly quelled by worry and confusion.</p>
<p>Why is he back and hanging around people on the wrong side of the law?</p>
<p>Her partner passes her without notice. “Gentlemen, we need to ask you to leave.”</p>
<p>It’s then that Buck looks up, but if he notices her, he doesn’t react, simply smiling softly. “We were just leaving.”</p>
<p>Athena watches, stunned and silent, as he shakes one man’s hand and then takes the elbow of another, leaving for the main door, briefcase in hand.</p>
<p>He doesn’t spare her a single glance.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks again for the love guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter!</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I don't own 9-1-1 or NCIS: LA or the One-Chicago verse!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Those once expressive eyes, now so cold and vacant, haunt Athena through the rest of her shift and deep into the evening.</p>
<p>Bobby can clearly tell something is up when she arrives home that evening, but he doesn’t press or pry, not until they’re alone and half asleep that is.</p>
<p>For that, she’s somewhat thankful. The afternoon’s shock was hard enough to put into words without being worried that Harry might overhear.</p>
<p>He’d once idolized Buck – still did really – and for Athena to put words to what she’d seen, what she worried was happening, was something she never wanted her boy to overhear.</p>
<p>She’s lying awake, staring at the ceiling, when Bobby presses closer to her, his calloused, rough hand finding hers.</p>
<p>“You want to talk about it?”</p>
<p>She sighs, rolling over to face him. “I honestly don’t know if I can.”</p>
<p>He frowns. “Confidental, or…?”</p>
<p>She teases the skin of her lips between her teeth, trying to find the words. “Just… difficult.”</p>
<p>“Take your time.” He says softly, squeezing her hand, but the look of trust and love and loyalty in his gaze is what undoes her, because it reminds her so vividly of the last time they saw Buck and the way her husband looked then; so unlike the heartfelt Captain he’d grown to become, so unlike the man she knew.</p>
<p>She takes a moment, swallows back the bile rising in her throat. “I saw Buck.”</p>
<p>Bobby jerks visibly, expressive eyes filling quickly with pain and regret. “You… saw Buck?”</p>
<p>“I got called to a known hangout for drug deals and the like. One of those places the city deems acceptable because it also helps the force catch worse people. But there was a guy at the back, looked like some sort of business deal… with Buck…” She shakes her head, pressing at her eyes with the palm of her free hand. “I keep trying to think of all the reasons he could have been there and… and none of them are good Bobby. I just… I wonder what we did to him to make him think something like that was an option.”</p>
<p>“You think he’s involved with something?” Bobby asks, worry etched on his features though it’s mixed with something else, something not too unlike how he’d reacted about the lawsuit. It makes her worry double, that he might take the wrong end of what she’s trying to say.</p>
<p>“Maybe, and I just…” She sighs, looking him straight in the eyes. “We abandoned that boy and you know it.”</p>
<p>“I was trying to protect him.” Bobby replies, and it’s the same story she’s heard before whenever they mention Buck. She doesn’t doubt his intentions, but the actions themselves were hard to justify.</p>
<p>“And look how well that turned out.”</p>
<p>He flinches, and she forces herself to calm, to apologise. “I just… I don’t want him to go down some road he can’t get back out of.”</p>
<p>“So what do we do?”</p>
<p>“The only thing we can do.” She says, squeezing his hand back. “Make sure he knows we’re here for him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They spend the next day working out the finite elements of their deal with Cupo, while the latter takes them around his warehouses and operations, explaining every crucial element with the grin of someone who knows he has it made.</p>
<p>It’s funny, Evan thinks, how loose someone’s tongue can be when they’re in the company of people they think they can trust.</p>
<p>Still, he and Jay play their parts and they play them well, agreeing even to accompany one of Cupo’s shipping container offloads later that evening.</p>
<p>There is a part of him that wonders how it could be this easy to get in with Cupo, and why the man’s so trusting of them, but as soon as he spies Kensi and Deeks’ car mostly hidden in one of the side roads off Cupo’s warehouse he lets himself relax a fraction.</p>
<p>They’re not alone, even if they are in LA rather than Chicago. They have back-up, eyes on them at all times, even if it feels otherwise.</p>
<p>If something did go wrong, they’d be okay.</p>
<p>He hopes to god nothing will go wrong.</p>
<p>He should have remembered that fate never did listen to him anyway.</p>
<p>Only when he enters the SUV with Jay, the other man flicking on a little black box in the centre console as Evan starts the engine, does he let his façade drop for a second.</p>
<p>“What do you think so far?” He asks, even as he pulls out and follows Cupo’s vehicles out and towards the marina.</p>
<p>“He’s too trusting.” Jay replies, mouth pursed. “But maybe that’s his play. Maybe being a nice bad guy is how he gets work done.”</p>
<p>“Maybe…” Evan replies, watching the dark silhouette of Cupo in the front vehicle.</p>
<p>Jay frowns softly at him. “You okay?”</p>
<p>“Hmm?” Evan blinks, focusing on the junction ahead and following the other vehicles. “Yeah. Course.”</p>
<p>“You just seem distracted.” Jay replies. “When Voight said – “</p>
<p>“I’m fine.” He replies tersely. They may have free speak for that moment, but there was no way he was letting himself pull away too much from the job at hand.</p>
<p>Jay just raises a brow. “You’ve seemed off ever since the club yesterday. Was it her?”</p>
<p>“It wasn’t her.”</p>
<p>“You told Hanna you have nothing to lose, but I don’t think you meant that. Not really.” Jay tells him, staring down Evan even as the other man is focused on the road ahead. “I just don’t want you to lose something you can’t get back.”</p>
<p>“It’s already lost.” Evan snaps. “And the job’s more important. That’s it. End of discussion.”</p>
<p>Jay just sighs. “The job isn’t everything though.”</p>
<p>“It is to me.”</p>
<p>Any further conversation is cut off by them arriving at the marina. The black box is switched off, their facades back in place as they slide out and go to meet Cupo. But a dark feeling seems to pool low in Evan’s gut, spurred by Jay’s words but also by how easy the whole thing continues to be.</p>
<p>It’s only when the bright white of a flashlight shines upon them that he curses himself for even thinking it.</p>
<p>The guard is taken hostage by one of Cupo’s men, another sending a warning shot off to the other guard, who flees.</p>
<p>Cupo turns to his men, seemingly unconcerned. “Three minutes.”</p>
<p>They barely get the container loaded and out of the harbour yard before several blue and white cars show up, sirens blaring, lights flashing.</p>
<p>Then all hell breaks loose.</p>
<p>Bullets whizz through the air, pops echoing in the night, and Buck and Jay somehow find themselves on the wrong side of the line, having to fire against their brothers and sisters in shield in order to maintain their cover. Their eyes meet for a brief second, a silent ‘god dammit’ exchanged, and then Evan is looking back at the police line.</p>
<p>And then he sees Athena.</p>
<p>It’s like a split second of total clarity where he sees Cupo’s own weapon aimed directly towards her, where he sees for one moment the enormity of what could happen, and then he’s firing without thought, aiming for the gas tank of the most forward car.</p>
<p>It erupts in a ball of flame, protecting the officers while also giving the criminals chance to escape in the ensuing chaos.</p>
<p>It’s only when they’re leaping back into their cars, when Cupo’s telling him ‘nice shot’ back at the warehouse, that the enormity of everything comes crashing down on his shoulders and all he can think is;</p>
<p>‘What the hell have I gotten myself into?’</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Athena Grant does not believe in coincidences.</p>
<p>She also doesn’t believe in personalities switching at the drop of a hat.</p>
<p>So when she finds herself in the middle of a shootout and spots Buck on the other side once more, her brain begins spinning and whirling over the possibilities for what’s going on.</p>
<p>There has to be a reason for him being there, yes, but she also knows that boy is too kind to ally himself with any sort of criminal.</p>
<p>Which leaves her dazed and confused beyond anything else.</p>
<p>Then a bullet leaves his gun, hitting one of the cars and sending it bursting into flames and all she can think as she stares at the explosion of orange and red, at the stream of smoke that seems to fill the air, is;</p>
<p>‘What the hell has that boy gotten himself into?’</p>
<p>It’s a question for which she doesn’t have the answer to.</p>
<p>It’s a question for which she’s not sure if she actually wants to know the answer.</p>
<p>Then the 118 is pulling up in the aftermath, hosing down the car and checking everyone for injuries, and suddenly she’s faced with her husband’s face, with the questions of ‘what happened?’ and is she ‘okay?’ and she honestly doesn’t know what to say.</p>
<p>Then they’re back at the station, a blanket around her shoulders and cup of cocoa in hand, and Hen is saying softly. “We actually wanted to ask you a question?”</p>
<p>And Eddie’s looking at her with hopeful, pleading eyes, as he says, “We were hoping you might help us find Buck.”</p>
<p>Athena just breaks, red rimmed eyes glistening with tears as she looks up at them, softly shaking her head.</p>
<p>“I think he’s in trouble.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Time for more badass Buck! Enjoy! Warning for swearing and blood.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I don’t own 9-1-1, NCIS: LA or the One-Chicago Universe.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As much as they’d once tried to pretend otherwise – tried to tell themselves that he had no reason to file that damn lawsuit, and that their anger was justified – they knew Buck.</p>
<p>No matter what might have happened to turn him away from LA – to send him down whatever path he was seemingly treading – he was still human, and would always therefore be a creature of habit.</p>
<p>If Hen still knew him – and she knows she does – then she knows he wouldn’t be able to resist getting breakfast from his favourite independent coffee shop, now that he was back in LA from… wherever he’d been…</p>
<p>So that’s where the five of them end up the next morning, at 7.30am, when – according to Hen – Buck would be finishing up a morning run.</p>
<p>Several minutes pass with no sight of him, their hopes dwindling, and then…</p>
<p>He’s not treading the same route he had done when they used to jog together, but it’s still unmistakably Buck coming towards them; hair longer and less kempt, mouth set into a tight line, but all the same regardless.</p>
<p>He spots them immediately, evident by the subtle way his eyes crease and his body tenses, but whether he’s trying to play dumb or he thinks Athena hadn’t seen him, he lets himself slow, gaze raking over them all. “Well isn’t this a coincidence.” He says softly, the barest trace of a smile on his lips. Athena can see his muscles are tight though, ready to pounce. “Finally decided everyone needed to try the cream horn, Henrietta?”</p>
<p>She flinches at his use of her full name, hurt clouding her eyes. Athena can see the slightest twitch of his mouth. He meant it, and that only serves to confuse her more.</p>
<p>“We wanted to talk, Buck.”</p>
<p>“Oh, really?” He huffs a little. “Funny, you never seemed that bothered before.”</p>
<p>“We made a mistake.” Eddie says softly, eyes misted as he stares Buck up and down, like he can’t quite believe the other man is actually there.</p>
<p>“Like I made a mistake but you decided you didn’t want to forgive me?” Buck responds with an eye roll, shoving past them. “Excuse me if I don’t quite give a fuck.”</p>
<p>“Evan!” Athena’s eyes are burning, but whether it’s anger or despair or grief, or all of the above, she isn’t sure. “I get that you think we don’t care, but it’s further from the truth, and what you’re doing – ”</p>
<p>He whirls to face her, voice slow, words flying with spittle. “And what is it exactly that I’m doing, Athena? What is it that has you so concerned, when no, you didn’t give a crap before? So why now, huh? Why do you think you suddenly have any say in what I do with my life?” His eyes are like two smouldering black coals, dark and crackling. “You don’t know me. You never have.”</p>
<p>He gives up on whatever it was he was going to get, pushing back past them to get outside. A black motorcycle pulls up, and Evan quickly slides onto it, arm hung loosely around the driver. The bike revs up, peeling away, and the last thing they see is Evan’s raised hand, middle finger outstretched.</p>
<p>“Well that went well.” Hen says softly, breath choking slightly around her tears.</p>
<p>“Does anyone else feel like that was like dealing with a moody teenager?” Chim muses, head tilted as they watch Evan’s figure disappear. “I mean…”</p>
<p>“You’re right.” Athena says, head tilting back upwards as she finishes scribbling down the bike’s license plate. “That wasn’t anger. Those words were calculated… maximum impact. Maximum effect.” She turns, looking at the frozen figures of her husband and Eddie, faces pale. “Like putting on a show.” Several puzzle pieces are desperately trying to slot together in her head. She knows she’s close, she’s just not sure what to.</p>
<p>With a sigh she pulls out her phone, calling the station and telling them to put out an APB on the bike, giving them the plate.</p>
<p>“What are you doing?” Bobby says then, eyes a fraction wider.</p>
<p>She looks at all of them, expression terse. “Either I’m getting some answers, or I’m doing what’s right; for him, and the city.”</p>
<p>If he really has gotten into something bad, then she swears she’s going to save him, one way or another.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“She’s getting too close.” Evan groans softly as he flops down onto the hotel room couch, scrubbing a hand over his face.</p>
<p>“What did you expect?” Jay responds, sitting beside him. The black box jammer and white noise emitter sit on the table in front of them, low hiss and electronic whine softly filling the room.</p>
<p>Evan just sighs. “I didn’t expect them to care.”</p>
<p>“You’re an easy person to love.” Jay laughs softly. “But I did say…”</p>
<p>“I know you did.” Evan responds. “But how they acted… why would I think any different?”</p>
<p>“It was messed up.” Jay nods. “But it doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed.”</p>
<p>“Except now they think I’ve got criminal ties.” He throws his head back, hands raking through his hair.</p>
<p>“So what do you want to do?”</p>
<p>He pauses a moment, lets out a breath, then says. “I need her to stop looking. I need her to back off so we can do our job and get back to Chicago.”</p>
<p>“Which won’t happen because she’s a cop.” Jay replies. “She’s doing her job.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but if she’s told to leave the case alone…” An idea sparks into Evan’s mind, small grin slipping onto his face. “We’re gonna need to call in a few favours.”</p>
<p>“Why do I have a feeling I’m not gonna like this?” Jay asks, amused.</p>
<p>“Because it means getting arrested?” Evan responds, laughing.</p>
<p>“God dammit.” Jay shakes his head, gaze nothing but fond as he looks at his partner. “We really are gonna be the death of Voight, you know?”</p>
<p>“I’ll just buy him some of those hoagies from downtown, he’ll be fine.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Athena feels her heart thud in her chest as she watches the hotel from across the street. The motorcycle was parked blatantly outside, and with PD having also received an anonymous tip about a drug deal from a room registered to Evan Buckley and one Vincent Arlo, combined with Athena’s own information, it was enough for them to be able to get a warrant to search the property.</p>
<p>Arlo’s record was nowhere near clean, with various charges of armed assault, meaning Athena’s small team also had armed back-up.</p>
<p>It was a lot, considering one of the people she was looking to apprehend had once been family – was still family, if she had anything to say about it.</p>
<p>They just had to make sure the two were still inside.</p>
<p>As if sensing their presence, the window curtain shifts, Evan’s face staring out for a long second before he ducks back inside.</p>
<p>Athena nods, satisfied. “Move in.”</p>
<p>The next few moments pass like a blur, and then there’s a shout of “police!” and the door is being kicked in.</p>
<p>The moment she sees the room, everything in her turns to ice.</p>
<p>Evan and a man she assumes is Vincent are lounged on the couch, various drug paraphernalia strewn in front of them. To one side, several large bags of white powder can be seen inside a black bag. Both sets of eyes are red.</p>
<p>“On the ground!” One of the armed officers shouts, shoving both men to the floor. It unfreezes Athena, though everything in her still hurts as she and her partner move in to arrest the pair.</p>
<p>“Evan Buckley, Vincent Arlo, you are under arrest…” The words spill from her lips easily, but it doesn’t change the way tears prick at her eyes as she’s forced to pull Evan up and through the door to the waiting police van.</p>
<p>Never in a million years had she thought this would be her life.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The cuffs chafe, yet Evan can’t help but smirk; everything was going to plan.</p>
<p>He hates the pain showing on Athena’s face, especially as she tries to stay her usual calm, collected self, dark eyes settling on him with a “what are you smirking at?” as they’re pulled into the station.</p>
<p>Still, he knows it’s for the best.</p>
<p>He can’t have her affecting their investigation, and the last thing he wants is for her to get hurt.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, he’s here to do a job, nothing more, and that has to trump everything else.</p>
<p>The Police Chief is there the moment they’re brought inside, gaze raking over the two men. “They don’t look like much.” He says to Athena. “All that fire power for this?”</p>
<p>“And for that.” Athena responds, pointing to the bag of drugs being brought in behind them.</p>
<p>The Chief whistles softly, turning back to Evan and Jay – Vincent – as he says. “Anything to say for yourself boys?”</p>
<p>Evan just lets his smirk grow wider. “Call my lawyer.”</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m sure that’ll be a fun conversation.” The Chief responds, before he waves over the desk sergeant. “Book them in, Ellis.”</p>
<p>They go through the rigmarole of fingerprints and photos, neither dropping their acts for a second, and then they’re led inside a room, shoved unceremoniously behind a desk; familiar one way window on the other side.</p>
<p>Evan looks at Jay and rolls his eyes; it’s nothing like they do in Chicago.</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m really scared.” Evan laughs softly.</p>
<p>“Zitto.” Jay – Vincent – snaps, gaze dark.</p>
<p>
  <em>Quiet.</em>
</p>
<p>Evan lets himself cower slightly, still playing their two man game.</p>
<p>Of course the person who comes into them is Athena, just like he’d expected, and it’s the last card he has to play.</p>
<p>She sits down opposite them, gaze boring into Evan, then Jay, then back to Evan. “You want to tell me the truth now? Because this doesn’t look good for you Evan.”</p>
<p>“What is it you want to hear, Athena?” Evan says softly, voice a whisper yet holding something sinister all the same. “That I’m sorry? That I didn’t mean it? That I’m a good little boy?”</p>
<p>“I want you to stop this dangerous game you’re playing, boy.”</p>
<p>“Life’s a game, Athena.” Evan responds, chuckling. “Don’t you get that? Lose some, win some, make your own luck. I lost a lot… so I realised that sometimes,” He pauses for a moment, lets his dark eyes bore into her, “you have to cheat to win.”</p>
<p>“This isn’t you.” She responds, and he can see her façade cracking just slightly.</p>
<p>“Like I said earlier,” He smirks, “You don’t know me at all.”</p>
<p>He watches as something in her breaks, hates himself so much for doing it even though he knows he has to, and then a moment later the door is swinging open, the Police Chief stood there, expression blank. “Seems you boys have a good lawyer.”</p>
<p>He waves another officer in, who moves to uncuff the two of them.</p>
<p>Evan lets himself stretch languidly, grinning at the Chief. “I assume we’re free to go? Apologies, and all that?”</p>
<p>“Like I said.” The other man says tersely. “You have a good lawyer.”</p>
<p>They don’t waste a moment more before leaving, the other officer accompanying them. Behind them, Evan can hear Athena questioning the move, outrage in her voice, and he smirks softly.</p>
<p>Plan complete.</p>
<p>Now, they just have to convince Cupo to bring them up further; have to expose the ranks and the system, then bring them down.</p>
<p>Easy, right?</p>
<p>He’s never been one to count his chickens before they hatch.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sir, with all due respect – ” Athena starts as the two are led out of the room.</p>
<p>The Chief simply holds up a hand. “The decision is not yours, Sergeant Grant.”</p>
<p>“They were caught red handed!”</p>
<p>“And you think that’s it?” He asks her. “There’s obviously more too it, and charging them with possession is frankly not what the Mayor is looking for in his war against crime.”</p>
<p>“So you’re following them?” She asks, grabbing onto what he’s saying. “I can put a – ”</p>
<p>He shakes his head. “Intelligence and the drug unit are. This isn’t your case anymore.”</p>
<p>“But sir…”</p>
<p>“You did good, Sergeant. But it’s moved beyond you now.” He turns, walking away from her. “Let it go.”</p>
<p>She watches him walk away, an anger bubbling through her, and yet… she honestly doesn’t know what just happened.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They get back to the hotel and quickly change, then head down to the parking garage for the car. They’re already late for Cupo’s next meet due to the change of plans, but they’re certain it’ll only serve to make their actions more realistic.</p>
<p>Escaping a run in with the law, unscathed, is surely worth some points in the criminal underworld.</p>
<p>The last thing he expects as he unlocks the car is to hear a pained grunt from Jay, turning just in time to see the other man collapse to the floor, nose streaming blood.</p>
<p>Suddenly on guard, he whirls, catching the punch before it connects with him. He’s rewarded instead with a jab to the side that sends him smacking into the car, head bouncing off the window. He can feel blood slide down his face immediately, and grimaces. “Now what was that for?”</p>
<p>His gaze finds Jay, a burly man helping him off the floor and then shoving him into the open back seat of the car.</p>
<p>A second man, his own assailant, jabs Evan with the tip of a gun. “Drive, or your partner isn’t going to do so well.”</p>
<p>Except, Detective Evan Severide has never done so well with orders – probably why he actually works better with Voight than anyone else – and he whirls, keeping low as he grabs his own weapon from his back pocket, sending two bullets straight into the man’s chest.</p>
<p>He falls like a lead brick, and then Evan is whirling again, sending a single shot into the other man’s head.</p>
<p>He doesn’t miss a beat, pulling Jay from the backseat – “Hey, you okay?” – and placing him into the front passenger. His partner is groggy – likely concussed – and Evan doesn’t like the amount of blood coming out of his nose or the way his arm is hanging limply at his side.</p>
<p>He’s quick into the driver’s seat, gunning the engine, and then the press of steel against his neck has him freezing.</p>
<p>“You fight well, Detective, but I’m afraid you’re outnumbered.” A familiar voice says, and this time, Evan knows he’s not going to get out of this one.</p>
<p>Cupo.</p>
<p>The man is grinning from the backseat. “Drive.”</p>
<p>So he does, pulling out of the garage with a squeal. “What do you want?”</p>
<p>“Hmmm…” Cupo pretends to take a moment. “How about cops not trying to fuck up my operations?”</p>
<p>“What did you expect?” Evan growls in response. “Twenty murders don’t just disappear.”</p>
<p>“No, they don’t.” Cupo replies. “Instead, how about we just make it twenty two?”</p>
<p>Evan glances quickly at Jay, his partner’s gaze glazed, and holds back a shiver.</p>
<p>A quiet Jay is not an okay Jay.</p>
<p>His worry is spiking and it has nothing to do with the gun pressed to his neck.</p>
<p>He needs to get Jay help, and fast.</p>
<p>The moment they begin to approach Station 118 is the moment he knows exactly what he has to do, even if it costs his own life.</p>
<p>Evan quietly flicks the passenger side door lock off, picks his moment, and then pulls the car into a tight 180 skid. The unexpected movement throws Cupo off balance, the gun slipping from his skin, and he takes that brief second of reprieve, the car mid-skid, to reach over and open the passenger door, unceremoniously shoving Jay to the pavement.</p>
<p>It’ll hurt now, but it should save his life.</p>
<p>The gun goes off, window shattering, and it’s all the noise – all the attention – Evan needs.</p>
<p>The moment the car finishes skidding, he throws it back into first and peels off down the road.</p>
<p>It doesn’t take longer than a second for the gun to press back against him, but at the very least, he knows Jay is safe.</p>
<p>“That wasn’t a very smart thing to do, Detective.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Athena isn’t sure what she expects when she arrives at the 118, expression betraying everything that happened that afternoon, but she certainly doesn’t expect the loud squeal of a car of the sharp crack of a gunshot.</p>
<p>They’d just sat down to one of Bobby’s meals, her husband worried by her near silence, when they hear it, and a second later they’re all racing downstairs. Athena has her own weapon drawn immediately, but it’s over with in seconds, and all she can see is a man lain in the middle of the road, arm reaching weakly towards a fast disappearing black mustang.</p>
<p>She can see the blood dripping from his face, and holsters her weapon, motioning for Hen and Chim to follow her.</p>
<p>“Sir? Are you alright?” She asks as they approach.</p>
<p>The last thing she expects to find is the man she had only earlier arrested.</p>
<p>Vincent Arlo.</p>
<p>The man’s eyes are glazed, signs of a concussion clear, but it’s his words that draw her attention, weak as they are.</p>
<p>“My partner… They took my partner…”</p>
<p>He blinks, a brief moment of clarity shining through as he looks up at her.</p>
<p>“They took Evan.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello lovely people! This was a fun chapter to write, so I really hope you enjoy it. This chapter is fairly heavy on Athena reacting to the truth, seeing as she’s been the one most affected by it, but the rest of the team will follow suit soon enough.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I don’t own 9-1-1 or Chicago PD.</p>
<p>Warnings for swearing, blood, and creepy criminals.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Athena feels her veins turn to ice at the implication of the man’s words.</p>
<p>She can’t deny how much it would make sense, and yet…</p>
<p>It also doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>The boy had only been gone six months, nowhere near long enough to pass through the academy and be put undercover.</p>
<p>She feels like her mind is suddenly spinning, whirling with impossibility and confusion, frustration and anxiety, because if this man was telling the truth; if Evan <strong>really </strong>was in trouble…</p>
<p>She helps him up with Hen and Chim, leading him inside to the open back door of the ambulance, but the moment they sit him on the stretcher she cuffs one hand to the metal railing, brow raised. She can’t really ask him to answer questions when its clear he has a concussion, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.</p>
<p>He could still be lying, no matter how much she kind of wants to believe him.</p>
<p>An undercover Evan was much better than a criminal one.</p>
<p>“Is this really necessary?” He blinks at her, pulling his wrist against the cuffs.</p>
<p>“Considering your record?” Athena responds, narrowed gaze still on him. “Yes.”</p>
<p>The man just groans, rubbing at his forehead with his free hand and then pinching his bloodied nose. “I knew this case was gonna be hell.”</p>
<p>Athena’s brow raises further at that, but he just sighs and continues on. “My brother’s gonna kill me.” Hen peels back his eyelids, flashing a penlight at his pupils, and he tries to flinch away, another groan escaping him. “Then Voight.”</p>
<p>She starts dabbing his nose, cleaning the blood away so she can assess the damage.</p>
<p>“Then I’m gonna kill Evan for getting kidnapped.” The man continues murmuring, inching away from Hen’s ministrations, batting her away. “I’ll save you the trouble.” His eyes are still looking glazed, but there’s obviously an awareness there too. “Broken nose, dislocated shoulder, mild concussion. I’m fine. I’ve had worse.”</p>
<p>Athena’s gaze bores into him then. “You’re gonna need to tell me what’s going on.”</p>
<p>The man blinks a couple of times, like he’s furiously trying to clear something from his vision, and then he’s looking up at Athena. His expression is open, relaxed, like he’s pleading with her to see that he’s telling the truth. “My name is Detective Jay Halstead. My partner is Detective Evan Buckley-Severide. Chicago PD. We’re undercover. Or… were…”</p>
<p>If anything, Athena’s gaze just narrows further. Even ignoring the fact that he decided to tack some other name onto Buck, there’s no way that could be true; the timings were simply impossible.</p>
<p>“That’s a likely story.” She says tersely. “But Evan only left LA six months ago, and he was a firefighter.”</p>
<p>“And before LA?” The man – Jay apparently – stares back at her. “You know everything about him?”</p>
<p>“We know enough.”</p>
<p>Another groan escapes him. “Call Sergeant Voight at CPD. He’ll send over our credentials.” Clearly her gaze is still making him uncomfortable because he throws his free hand up in exasperation. “Or call LA NCIS. It’s a joint investigation. They have our stuff.”</p>
<p>They couldn’t have risked leaving their badges at the hotel after all.</p>
<p>She watches him for another moment, then pulls her phone from her pocket. She googles the number for CPD, because anything this man gives her could be fake, and then lifts the phone to her ear.</p>
<p>“Chicago Police Department.” A serious sounding voice says. “Desk Sergeant Platt speaking.”</p>
<p>“This is Sergeant Athena Grant, from LAPD. Is Sergeant Voight available?”</p>
<p>There’s a pause, and then the person says. “Let me transfer you.”</p>
<p>“Voight” A gruff voice comes on the line a moment later. “This LAPD, you say? You callin’ ‘bout my boys?”</p>
<p>It jerks her a little, how quickly Jay’s story seems to have some truth to it, but she presses forward. “I’m calling because I have a suspect claiming to be a Detective Halstead, under your command. He claims you can send over his credentials and that of his partner?”</p>
<p>There’s a few beats of silence, and then the voice says. “That so, hm? Can you put me on with him?”</p>
<p>She blinks, then reluctantly hands the phone over.</p>
<p>Jay takes it, sighing. “Hank, they’ve got Evan.” They can hear murmurs on the other end, but nothing more. “I’m gonna get NCIS on it, but at the moment I’m cuffed to an ambulance with a concussion so…” He nods absently. “I think the only way is to bring her in.”</p>
<p>He hands the phone back over. “Where do you want me to send them, Sergeant?” The gruff voice asks, and she quickly gives him the firehouse address. She can hear the fax machine upstairs start up, and thanks the man before hanging up.</p>
<p>She heads up the stairs quickly, grabbing the papers from the machine. The man’s face stares back at her first, confirming him as Jay Halstead, a Detective with CPD Intelligence. The next sheet has her freezing in place, Evan’s face looking back at her.</p>
<p>
  <em>Severide, Evan</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Detective</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>CPD Intelligence</em>
</p>
<p>Her thumb absently traces the boy’s face – so much like a son to her in so many ways – and then she’s heading down the stairs and to the ambulance, unlocking Jay without another word.</p>
<p>He rubs his wrist, then touches his shoulder with a hiss. “Anyone wanna give me a hand popping this back in?”</p>
<p>Eddie wordlessly steps forward to help him, a short sharp cry reverberating through the firehouse, and then Jay is rolling his shoulder back and forth, followed by a satisfactory nod. “Right. Now that’s cleared up, I need to get my partner back.” He slips out of the ambulance, pulling his phone from his pocket and pressing it quickly to his ear. “Callen, it’s Halstead. Cover’s blown. Cupo has my partner. He dispatched a couple of guys at our hotel, Southside of the garage, before he was forced to drive at gunpoint.” He nods to the voice on the other end. “Okay, I’ll meet you there.”</p>
<p>He ends the call, quickly scrubs a hand over his face, and then dials another number. “Severide? It’s Jay.” Again the 118 can’t hear the voice on the other end, but they can see the despair in the man’s face, the anguish, as he speaks. “We’re okay, but things have gotten a bit tricky. Just… Evan’s in a spot of trouble, but I’m gonna get him out, okay? I swear Kelly, I’m gonna get him home.” Another nods. “I’ll keep you informed. Kay. Bye.”</p>
<p>He pockets the phone, sliding down the side of the truck to the floor, head in his hands. He takes several deep breaths, shaking just slightly, and Athena’s heart goes out to him. Making her way over, she rests a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll get him back.”</p>
<p>He blinks up at her, eyes still a little glassy and now bloodshot and laced with tears. “Yeah.” He takes a moment, scrubs at his eyes, then stands. “I need to get back to our hotel. Agents Callen and Hanna are gonna meet me there.”</p>
<p>“That who you were talking to?” She asks, like she hadn’t overheard him, but there was something about the second call – ‘I’m gonna get him home’ – that she needs to know more about.</p>
<p>“One of.” He responds, gaze going a little far away, pain washing over his features. “The other was personal.”</p>
<p>“His husband?” She hadn’t missed the name he’d spoken, or the way it matched the name on Evan’s credentials, and she’d been one of the few people her boy had come out to while he was in LA.</p>
<p>Jay barks out a laugh, and at the very least, amidst her confusion, she’s glad it brings a lightness back to him, if only momentarily. “God, no…” He looks up at Athena, smiling softly. “His brother.”</p>
<p>“Brother?” She can’t help but voice her shock.</p>
<p>He nods. “After Maddie left… Kelly was his rock.” He rubs his hands over his eyes again, then through his hair, before looking back at her. “I can’t lose him.”</p>
<p>“You won’t.” She says determined, then takes his elbow, leading him to her squad car. “Come on. You can fill me in on the way.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t know where he is, but it’s dark and decrepit, and smells like fish. It’s probably one of the most unpleasant situations he’s been in, and he’s been in a lot, but he thinks it’s more to do with the fact that he has a stab wound in his side and the way his arms have been bound behind him means it’s a constant pull against the beaten, severed muscles.</p>
<p>It’s like his entire side is on fire, blood steadily dripping onto the floor.</p>
<p>There’s a fairly large puddle beside him now, and he’s thinking it wasn’t a good idea to take out another two of Cupo’s men when they tried tying him up.</p>
<p>It hurts to breathe, and he can only hope that his partner’s okay and that he somehow managed to alert NCIS as to the development – or that Kensi and Deeks have realised they’re off grid – and that someone is coming for him.</p>
<p>He’s not sure he’s going to get out of this one alone otherwise.</p>
<p>The door facing him opens, Cupo coming in with a few of his goons, including the toothy one that took pleasure in stabbing a rusted knife into his side, but there’s someone else behind them.</p>
<p>This man is wearing an expensive looking white suit, black hair and red eyes gleaming in comparison, and when he grins, Evan can see the end of a forked tongue.</p>
<p>Whoever this guy is, he’s definitely going for a creepy aesthetic. If anything, Evan finds it hilarious, and he can’t help but laugh.</p>
<p>“I’m glad to find you in good spirits, Detective.” Cupo says, smirking. “But I have a feeling you’ll change your mind soon enough.”</p>
<p>The new man steps forward then, grin wide. “Hello, Detective. They call me the Rattlesnake, and I am very pleased to meet you.”</p>
<p>Evan feels a shiver slip down his spine, and he can only hope he managed to hide it.</p>
<p>From the way the man’s grin only widens, he’s pretty sure he failed.</p>
<p>Well, shit…</p>
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